Corbis This week in The New York Times Book Review, David Quammen reviews Monte Reel’s “Between Man and Beast,†the story of the 19th-century explorer Paul Du Chaillu, who returned from Africa with evidence that a creature of myth â€" the gorilla â€" actually existed. Mr. Quammen writes:
No one from the Western world, as far as we know, had laid eyes on a kangaroo until 1770. Emus, orangutans and Komodo dragons came as surprises. The earliest scientific description of a dinosaur, based on mystifying new fossils, appeared only in 1824. But the most provocative of zoological novelties was the gorilla, a Victorian sensation, for two reasons: because it was presented (falsely) as a menacing, aggressive behemoth and because it seemed, in delicious paradox, much too similar to humans for comfort. The gorilla’s very existence suggested â€" at just the time Charles Darwin was also suggesting â€" heretical ideas about the origin and nature of mankind.
On this week’s podcast, Mr. Reel talks about “Between Man and Beastâ€; Leslie Kaufman has notes from the field; Ada Calhoun discusses Mike Piazza’s memoir; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Sam Tanenhaus is the host.
